Draconic
Draconic is the language of the dragons. Actually, there are two forms of Draconic. The first is spoken by the Dragonborn, the second -- spoken by the Dragons of the world. They are only classified as Draconic because they have similiar sounds, almost like a family. But the grammar and construction is utterly different. Dragonian Draconic Dragonian Draconic, or Dovahzul, is an obscure tongue only spoken by a few scholars, for native speakers — dragons — are seldom encountered. The Draconic language is made up of husky syllables and has a growling sound. This is the Draconic spoken by Nagas and the Nagaji. Dragonian Draconic was made by Bethseda for the game Skyrim, and is probably the most recognizable form of Draconic by now. All of the information below is from the Elder Scrolls Wiki, and is Creative Commons -- Share-Alike 4.0 licensed. Pronounciation Some people may find the pronunciation of the Dragonian Draconic alphabet digraphs "aa", "ah", "ei", "ey", "ii", "ir", "uu", "ur", and "oo" to be confusing. However, assuming that the initial syllables heard in the musical pieces for the game are the standard form, then the language takes on a more Scandinavian sound: "aa" and "ah" are both a long, open "a" /aː/, the latter, however, being formed more gutturally (sometimes becoming /ɔː/). "oo" is used in the instances where the normal "o" sound /o/ (English "port") needs to become long (/oː/), as in the English "door". Only "uu" takes on the sound of an English double-"o" (see the above examples). "ii" would tend to be longer (/ɪː/). "ir" and "ur" equate to /ɪr/ and /ur/, respectively. Finally, there is a difference between "ei" and "ey" in that "ei" is pronounced as in German, producing a vowel as in price. "Ey," on the other hand, sounds as in face. These discrepancies in pronunciation most likely result from the fact that many of these phonemes are not native to (or not the standard in) the English language, as well as the fact that most dovahhe only periodically speak in their native language, so that it wasn't deemed important by Bethesda to properly instruct the voice actors in the pronunciation of the language. Grammar The language has basically the same grammar as English, with the exceptions that it doesn't have an equivalent to English's apostrophes, it tends to place prepositional phrases earlier in sentences than English does, and it doesn't have tense.2 To make a word plural, two letters are added to the end of the word, the first being the last letter in the singular form, and the second being an "e". Words are constructed in such a way that, when combined, form new words. A known construction is "Junnesejer" which means "the kings of the east." "Jun" being King and "Jer" being East. Thus, combining words will allow you to convey an idea or another word. For Example: Moon and Eclipse are not part of the vocabulary, but Sun (Krein) and Night (Vulon) are. The word is based on which of the words come first, because the first word is prominent. If you were to say VulonKrien then the prominent word is Night while the secondary is Sun, and you would have Moon (i.e A light in the night). Vice versa with KrienVulon, the sun is prominent and night is secondary so you would have Eclipse (Darkness where the sun is). With Junnesejer, it means The kings of the east. But if you were to put it as Jersejun it would say East King. "se" is a conjunction between words that are combined to fill in the particles but its just as easily understood without it. (i.e KrienseVulon=KrienVulon both mean Eclipse) Common Words Dragonborn Draconic The Dragonborn Draconic is made up of the Draconic found in Dungeons and Dragons (and published by Wizards of the Coast). Here are a few words and phrases, from the Draconic Translator: Sia filkiati vur tiichi! -- My justice and honor! Tiichi vur ibahalii ekess Arkhosia! -- Honor and glory to Arkhosia! Si itov wux mrith shio sia kornari. -- I love you with all my heart. Okarthel ui svaklar wer ixen ui. -- Home is where the hearth is. Ixen vur vignari! -- Fire and ashes! -- a common Draconic expletive Dragonborn Writing Dragonborn writing is not Dragon writing in any aspect -- from dragon runes and so forth. It's a sophisticated writing system based on the Ayeri Ornament Script by Carsten Becker. The writing system is called the vorel lexri or beautiful words by the Dragonborn. This script is primarily used for ornamental purposes and not for everyday writing. For everyday writing, a script that is similar to Raitolïihaste, invented by Aidan Aannestad, is used. Dragonborn Draconic has the following features: *Direction of writing: left to right in vertical columns. *Vowels come to the right of the consonant preceding them. *Diphthongs are written with a pair of vowels, the vowel which takes more has a dot over it. Footnotes